Beyond the Leaves
by emeraldLINX
Summary: Complete: NaruSasu. Years later the boys still hate each other. But when they are sent on a duo mission and caught in a fight amongst themselves, their rivalry may sprout into something much different...


**A/N:** Hey everyone! Welcome to my widdle story, but before you continue reading, be aware that this is shounen-ai/yaoi. That means guy-guy lovin'. If you don't like that kind of thing than back away before your little myopic eyes open, and for those who do like it, please continue.

Um... disclaimer... blah, blah, I wish I owned Sasuke but I don't... but that's ok. 'Cause Naruto owns him. -grin-

Lastly, this is taken in the future and when the boys are older, but the whole incident with Orochimaru (or whatever his name is; gah I hate him) isn't included because, well, I only watched it after I wrote half of it and I got lazy. Don't get me wrong though, all shounen-ai fans will be content.

And thanks Ethereal Shadow for proofreading. Anyway... onwards!

* * *

Silent, ever silent, he laid his head on the cold countertop. The tiles burned his cheeks, but Naruto was too much in a daze to notice… or care. The blond was not thinking about anything really, just staring ahead at the heating kettle. Smoke rose in puffs out of the nozzle almost like wisps of clouds; it was somehow entrancing. 

In any moment, he would hear the click of the kettle, signaling that the water was at a boil. A smile crawled onto his lips as he closed his eyes. Ramen! He could see it now: scorching water inside the huge bowl sitting next to him, ramen melting in his mouth… He couldn't wait.

Exhaling slowly, he opened his eyes to see the kettle remaining still. Not that an inanimate object continuing to be inanimate was a surprise, but somehow Naruto was hoping to find anything unexpected. It was the same thing, day in, day out. Ramen, ramen, ramen…

Naruto was not sick of the food, not at all, but could not deny that he wanted today to be special one way or another. He shrugged; he wouldn't find anything special during breakfast, especially considering that he was about to eat the same exact meal he ate every morning of his life.

And so, here he was. The light of the morning had not spilt through the windows yet. How early in the morning was it anyway? It didn't matter, as long as Naruto rolled up his futon and left while Iruka-sensei was still asleep. Sensei was like a father to Naruto… and the blond felt guilty for raiding his 'father's' house all the time.

So Naruto was a little lonely, so what? The thought made him twitch slightly and re-adjust his position on the kitchen counter. Loneliness was a pathetic excuse to show up at Iruka's—anyone's—doorstep to eat dinner and hang out and sleep over every night and Naruto sounded pathetic. The boy could barely remember the last time he slept at his own house.

The same old thing. What a surprise.

He buried his face in his sleeve, thinking, contemplating, wondering why he was moping so. It was because it was today. Naruto laughed slightly, only to make an audible muffling noise, at the stupidity of his thoughts. Well, he'd just have to make today special was all.

Lifting his head, he looked out the window. It was still dark. Good. Naruto did not want anyone to know he was going to take the day off today. Not only did he not want any surprises, but the boy was simply tired of taking advantage of his teacher. If he left before Iruka woke up (or Kakashi for that matter), then they would think they were dreaming: Naruto hadn't showed up the night before asking for yet another free meal.

Where his destination was… who was to tell? Just anywhere away from everyone he knew. The last thing Naruto wanted was for people to know that he was feeling down today—"Naruto always smiles, he's always happy, and always stupid." Why ruin that stereotype? It had worked for him for a number of years. Why stop now?

All this contemplating made Naruto completely miss the familiar sound of the kettle. His everyday, boring ramen was ready. Grabbing the bowl and crouching on the counter, he poured the water and steam over his noodles. He stopped momentarily, listening to the whistling leaves outside. Peculiar.

He turned his head to the window, but saw nothing, felt nothing… his mind was playing tricks. In the darkness of the morning he continued to pour the water and just when the hand holding the cup began to burn, Naruto stopped and took in a big whiff of the rising steam. Letting it fill his lungs, he held his breath and slowly, ever slowly, allowed the scented air to escape.

Kneeling on the counter, he lowered his head, eye-level to the bowl. The warmth, the smell…even if this was the same every day at least its taste was worth the monotony. Naruto rolled his eyes; that probably made no sense, but he shrugged it off as he felt the cool air leak through the window.

At last he snatched the chopsticks waiting patiently beside him and gulped the biggest portion he could shove into his little mouth. The burning sensation subsided shortly as half of the noodles overflowed out his mouth. He closed his eyes and savored the taste.

"What are you doing?"

Startled, he lost his balance on the counter and landed on his back, an upside-down bowl of ramen-goodness on his shoulder. Naruto gulped down what was remaining in his mouth, he twitched his eyes, he bit his lip, trying desperately not to make a sound, lest he wake Iruka, for he was certain that the voice that said those words did not belong to his sensei.

He tilted his ramen-soaked head to the window and saw whom he did not suspect. Silence separated the two as Naruto twisted off the counter and, one at a time, picked off the noodles from his chest. Eyes never astray from the figure in the window, he quietly, instantly, cleaned up the mess and vehemently dumped his breakfast down the sink.

"Why'd you have to ruin my breakfast?" Naruto whispered.

"If you weren't so clumsy…"

"What do you want, Sasuke?" Skeptical, almost fearful, Naruto stared coldly at his rival sitting in the window with one leg inside the house. Sasuke said nothing, just closed his eyes with apparent annoyance and reached inside his pocket.

Naruto tilted his head slightly when the boy pulled out a tethered piece of paper. Saying nothing, the blond snatched it from him. His fingers unwrinkled and spread the manuscript as flat as possible. A few moments passed as he stared at the words without actually reading them.

All his thoughts were on the guy in front him. Just thinking his name made Naruto's skin crawl with hatred. If he hadleft moments earlier, he'd have been long gone, and Sasuke would have never found him…and his day alone would have been fulfilled.

"How'd you find me here?"

Sasuke shrugged and slowly rose to his feet. "You're always here. I'm surprised Kakashi has never kicked you out. He and Iruka must feel sorry for you."

"Oh shut up," Naruto snarled, the scarred whiskers on his cheeks rising to make him look menacing.

"Have you read it yet?" Seeing the blank response from Naruto, Sasuke snatched the piece of paper back. "Typical." And with that, the elusive, mysterious ninja disappeared.

The blond growled, the sweltering anger welling from his inner fox showing through, and leapt out the window. Quickly and silently he trailed Sasuke's smell (not that it was particularly difficult for a fox), which eventually led him to the rooftops.

And there he was in the darkness of the morning: his back facing Naruto and the wrinkled paper held tightly in his fist. Every fiber in Naruto's being screamed at him to attack, to rip apart Sasuke's very existence, but when his rival turned to reflect the same hatred as Naruto, he stopped.

Why did he hate Sasuke this much? It ached in his bones, made his flesh crawl, his heart pound…Why? Why did his strength, his nonchalance, his mysteriousness haunt him? And more importantly, why did this hatred become an infatuation? Every time—every bloody time— they fought, Naruto found himself scarred and dwelling over the matter for hours afterward, probably more than that. Although he admitted that Sasuke had not crossed his mind all morning, he could not deny that he was thinking about the boy the night before. Thinking about how much he despised the cretin, that is.

"What do you want?"

"We have a mission together. Really urgent."

Naruto paused, quirking an eyebrow. "That's all?"

"Yeah…"

"This early in the morning? And today?"

"That is what 'urgent' entails," Sasuke rolled his eyes, and without waiting or caring he headed for the forest.

The wind whistled in Naruto's ears as he stood there dumbly. The last way he wanted to spend today was with Sasuke and especially on a mission. The guy probably didn't even need Naruto… and there he was, making excuses again. Shrugging it off, he walked to the edge of the roof.

With all the training and the near-death experiences, the two of them had spent multitudes of time together. One would think that the loathing between would have deteriorated or vanished altogether, and in many ways it had, but for one reason or another both seemed to cling to what they knew best. And that was how to make the other despise one another. But then again, what was one day? It wasn't as though today would be special anyway.

He sighed to himself, and finally leapt off the building in pursuit of Sasuke once again.

* * *

A fair amount of time passed and soon the sun rose above the horizon—not that Naruto saw the sunrise. He was too busy focusing and putting all his aggression on the figure running in the trees. Stupid Sasuke! The blond barely noticed that the trees were growing brighter and greener. And he certainly was unaware that he was going in circles.

Finally, _finally_, Sasuke stopped. He dropped to the ground at the edge of a relatively steep hill. It overlooked another stretch of forest, nothing particularly special. He waited for Naruto to catch up to him, but when the boy did, not a word was said. The two stood there silently, taking in the view, hating or enjoying each other's company, afraid to make a sound… whatever the reason, Naruto was determined to make Sasuke speak first.

So he stood there frigidly, waiting, waiting, and when his rival continued to be silent, Naruto let out a loud sigh. He closed his eyes to relieve his frustration but was surprised to find a gentle breeze blowing on him, much like the one from earlier in the morning. That reminded him, he was still wearing the clothes that were soaked in water and ramen. His orange shirt had dried, but remembering the incident made Naruto flinch slightly and open his eyes.

He did not care if he lost the 'who-would-be-the-last-not-to-speak' contest, and said dryly, "So…"

"So…" Sasuke mirrored, not once looking at Naruto.

"Where is this mission anyway?" However, no response came. Naruto turned to face him with fire in his eyes, "is this some kind of joke?"

"Pft, no. I'm just…" he paused and Naruto could not help but notice him bite his lip, trying not to embarrass himself. "I'm a little lost."

Naruto opened his mouth and pointed his finger straight at Sasuke but other than that, did nothing. He wanted to laugh or make his rival feel humiliated or enjoy this moment, but desires often fall short of reality. Instead, the boy found himself deeply upset. He wanted today, of all days in the entire year, to be special, to be different than the idiotic repetition that was his life.

He wanted to be Hokage, he wanted to be respected… he wanted to be many things, and today was a fierce reminder that he wasn't, that, really, he wasn't any closer than when he started his charade. It was bad enough that he was a failure, but did Sasuke have to unwittingly rub it in? Again?

His rival led him for a few hours to the middle of nowhere! He could feel the fire rising in his throat, but this anger was not aimed at Sasuke. No. It was at himself… and he searched for a response, any kind, but all he wanted to do was slap himself in the face. Why did Sasuke have to see him like this?

"Urgent, huh?" Naruto finally said sarcastically. He nudged a rock in front of him with his toe and then kicked it down the hill. "Of all the ridiculous…"

"It's not like I can depend on you to be the navigator. You barely read. You couldn't read a six-sentenced note."

"Sure I could!" However, he stopped when Sasuke returned a harsh glare. "Ok, so I was distracted this morning…"

"You're 'distracted' all the time. At some point you can't use that excuse anymore."

Naruto bore his teeth at Sasuke and pushed him on the shoulder. "If I'm so useless than why'd you bother fetching me? I have more important things to do."

Sasuke, slightly taken back by the push, punched back harder in the same place. "You're a bad liar… You're a bad liar, a bad navigator, and a bad ninja."

"And you're a bad partner! You don't even tell me where we're going." This time, Naruto shoved his rival in the chest with both hands. "You think you're better than me!"

"Hell yes I do! And, hah, me? A bad partner… I saved you so many times. I almost died because of you."

Obviously, Sasuke was referring to the incident with Haku (even though that was ages upon ages ago), but Naruto didn't care. He… was just so mad. The flames in his eyes, his heart pounding, his soul aching for blood. "I never asked for your help!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled back. Both were surprised at the harshness in his tone, for Sasuke never allowed these arguments to get to him. But it did now, and the boy slammed into Naruto, catching the ninja off guard. For whatever reason, neither used their chakra or jutsu or anything. The two were brawling with bare fist and claw.

The blond reached to strangle Sasuke but was blocked, and in return Sasuke punched Naruto as hard in the face as he could. Snarling as he fell back, Naruto caught himself and gave into his ferocious instinct. He roughly pounced on top of Sasuke and pushed him over the edge of the hill, sending both Sasuke and Naruto tumbling head over heels.

Along the way, both hit twigs and rocks, rolling through mud, but refused to let go of each other, to let go of their quarrel. And before they knew it, they landed at the bottom of the hill with Sasuke on top of Naruto.

"Get off!" the blond shrieked and flailed his arms, but Sasuke caught and pinned them to the ground. Angry, blood-thirsty, he continued to try and escape but all to no avail. He kept trying… all he wanted was for Sasuke's heavy weight to be somewhere else, but as seconds stretched to minutes, Naruto calmed down.

He panted, more from the blind rage than anything, and glared at the bloody face in front of him. There were scratches all over Sasuke's cheeks, and a splotch of mud stuck to a portion of his forehead and hair. Naruto could only help but wonder how bloody his own complexion was.

"What do you want from me?" Sasuke asked harshly, almost in a hiss. The question could barely be considered one though with his tone.

"Nothing!"

"Exactly," Sasuke spat out. Not once did his eyes tear away from Naruto. "I… hate you, Naruto…" The blond said nothing, merely watched. Sasuke's eyes were glazed over with confusion and bitterness and hatred, his voice screamed the same, but somehow, Naruto sensed infatuation. The same kind the blond felt for his rival. "Now you listen, Naruto Uzumaki," he whispered coldly.

His face was closer than Naruto felt comfortable with; it was inches from his; he could feel the heat from his breath.

"Why should I listen? All you've ever done is insult and torment me."

"Because you deserve it! I don't know why I saved you that day…" He looked away for a moment, his hair brushing against Naruto, and then he returned to glare the fox straight in the eyes. "But I did. And I thought I was going to die and so did you… and all you can tell me is that you didn't need my help? I basically sacrificed my life and you can't swallow your pride just once to give me the respect I deserve? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Naruto could not think, not even breath. All this physical weight was on top of him; he felt compressed into a sardine can, and Sasuke's eyes were right in his face and his hair tickled Naruto's forehead… his heart was pounding, but he wasn't sure why.

"Kakashi had once told us about teamwork, about how in a real battle, you'll come across a situation where your partner is about to die. Sakura, you, and I found ourselves in that situation. And…you can't recognize me as a valuable ally? A teammate?" His voice was trembling in his throat, his eyes' lack of heat burned into Naruto. "…I hate you."

At some point, Naruto was hanging onto Sasuke's every word. It hurt him, to say the least, but more importantly, it made his heart pulsate rapidly, more so than before. All he could feel was the heat emanating from Sasuke, all he could see was Sasuke, and all he could hear was Sasuke… and somewhere he lost control of his hatred. His anger was on the edge of a knife, ready to stray and fall any which way, and it had just fallen. He let go and allowed instinct to take over.

Sasuke's lips were still moving, but Naruto failed to hear anything coming from them. They just refused to stop; the only way he could think to describe them, was that they moved with the grace of a butterfly (as absurd as it sounded to Naruto), and his instinct told him to catch it.

He tilted his head towards his rival, barely any movement at all really seeing as how Sasuke did all the work earlier, and suddenly his lips were touching those of his enemy. Neither did anything— Sasuke was dumbfounded, and Naruto had suddenly come to his senses but was in complete shock at what he had done. Sasuke did not move, but his eyes portrayed extreme confusion and when they met Naruto's equally confused ones, he forgot what he was talking about earlier. Naruto's warmth melted away any opposition he had. And so, he gave up, closing his fatigued eyes. Surprise hit him—who knew that Naruto's lips were so warm…

Their bones aching from the fall and their heart pounding from their infatuated hatred for each other, the two remained frozen in a limp kiss. Somewhere, Sasuke let go of his forceful grasp on Naruto's wrists and let gravity bring them closer. Breaking away from the kiss, Sasuke rested his head on Naruto's shoulder (having a distinct smell of ramen…). He sighed quietly and listened to the other boy's heartbeat as his chest rose and fell with each breath.

Rising and falling at a steady pace, it was mesmerizing to both Sasuke and Naruto. They remained silent, just listening to each other, forgetting everything that was said. Moments, minutes, hours… however long it was, Naruto did not want to push Sasuke off of him, in fear that the peace they shared would shatter. The blond sensed that the heavy weight on top of him was thinking the same thing.

"I tried to avenge you…" whispered Naruto. Confused, Sasuke repositioned himself, crossed his arms over the blond's chest, and then leaned on them. He furrowed his eyebrows signaling an explanation. "I did!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The thing with Haku. I was ready to kill him; I was going to avenge you."

Sasuke paused, tilted his head slightly to the side. He regretted all he said earlier. The last 'confession' he ever wanted anyone to hear was that Sasuke actually wanted Naruto to admit that he needed Sasuke's help. The notion was always based upon humiliation, but in reality, was based upon his need for Naruto to need him.

Exhaling a deep breath, he shook his head and laughed inaudibly, but stopped suddenly when the person he lay on twitched. "What?"

"That tickled."

"What…My breath?" A sly smile crawled on his bruised face. His rival was ticklish on the neck and was in no position to escape (quite literally). Sasuke lowered his head and after stretching the rest of his body a bit, moved his nose immediately below Naruto's ear and jaw.

This was to torment Naruto, he thought to himself, to make him squirm…

Sasuke waited a moment to hear any sounds of opposition, but there were none. However, the boy could feel Naruto tense beneath him. Slowly he started licking Naruto's neck, and instantly Sasuke felt a change from tense to burying into the ground. The fox was trying to escape, was he?

Snickering under his breath, he dug into Naruto, pushed him harder into the ground, continuing to lick the soft skin. This was all to make the boy squirm, so why was he enjoying it himself? Closing his eyes, Sasuke feared to answer such a question.

Faint moans escaped Naruto's throat, and feeling evil (since that was the only term for it), Sasuke bit into the base of his neck. Arms flung around him, catching Sasuke completely off guard. Only after looking to the side did he see that they belonged to Naruto.

Before he could return to face the blond, Sasuke froze—something was licking his cheek. Shifting his glance he saw Naruto. It was obvious who the culprit was, but recognizing Naruto was touching his face came as a surprise. It was so alien to him, the affection. And seeing his rival as something new was difficult if not impossible.

Maybe his endless hatred was just a way of hiding. It was covering up a fear that Sasuke never knew he had.

He looked with weak eyes at Naruto who had halted with his tongue still out. The blond appeared frightened, almost cornered like a rabbit. Sasuke, however, thought the expression was adorable.

Pinning one of Naruto's shoulders to the ground separated the two of them long enough for Sasuke to gaze at Naruto's scratched face. His eyes traveled from the headband to the shining blue orbs and finally to the whisker tattoos on his left cheek. With two fingers he reached for them.

Naruto flinched backwards (technically downwards towards the ground) until he was caught by the grass beneath him. This made Sasuke smile, even chuckle. Knowing Naruto had nowhere to go, Sasuke again reached for the tattoos, making Naruto shut one eye and tense.

"Relax," he whispered. However, surprise took hold of Sasuke when he realized that the whiskers were not tattoos but indented scars. Was he born with six recesses on his face? Or… did the fox inside Naruto cut them into him? The boy wondered if it hurt Naruto, and this curiosity caused Sasuke to lower his head to Naruto's blond one.

He rested his cheek on the triplet scars, noticing the boy underneath him shudder. But this did not send a negative message; it was signaling Sasuke to stay there. Ignoring such a gesture however, he moved his head so that his lips grazed Naruto.

They were staring at each other. Words were not needed, for they both shared the same confusion, the same hatred, and somehow the same affection. It made no sense why they were still on top of each other in the middle of a forest barely past dawn. No, no sense at all. But they _were_ nonetheless.

Like a magnet, or even like gravity, they pulled closer to one another. Whoever started the kiss, neither was certain, and nor did they particularly care. Their lips were frozen together and only when Naruto tightened his grip around Sasuke did the black-haired boy find the bravery to return the favor.

Despite the racing of his heart screaming against it, Sasuke reached under Naruto's shirt and rubbed his stomach while still kissing him. Naruto mumbled under Sasuke's lips, completely incomprehensible, but Sasuke knew he was saying something similar to, "What are you doing?"

Though in all honesty, Sasuke had no idea what he was doing. No idea. He was just following instinct like a lost puppy: wandering around in the dark even when he was touching light.

Somewhere along the line, Naruto broke from the kiss (technically multiple kisses), shocking Sasuke. He was half-smiling, Sasuke noticed, but seemed to be hunting for words and failing miserably.

"Don't say anything," Sasuke sighed, "You'll ruin it, stupid." Quirking an eyebrow, Naruto grinned and tugged on one of Sasuke's bangs. "Eh? Naruto…" But suddenly Sasuke shivered—someone's hand was under his shirt. "Copyca--"

Almost instantly afterward, Naruto stopped any movement from Sasuke's lips with a kiss. He recoiled and said, "You talk too much."

"Coming from you?" The blond just shrugged and let gravity take hold of him, resting his head on the grass. Still holding Naruto in a tight embrace, Sasuke plunged on top of him.

And so the two of them were back where they were—listening quietly to each other's heartbeats. Sasuke closed his eyes, letting sleep grab hold of him. That is until Naruto laced his fingers in Sasuke's hair.

"Your hair smells like fruit," he whispered in his enemy's ears.

"And you reek of ramen," Sasuke chuckled into Naruto's shoulder, but was glad when his rival made no response. The silence between them was not awkward; it was welcomed. They no longer wanted to be tied down by words, and so Sasuke closed his eyes yet again.

Naruto continued to twirl his fingers in Sasuke's hair, trying not to breathe heavily, in fear that it would wake the weight resting on top of him, but it was indescribably difficult. How long had he been in this position now? His legs were numb… but Naruto was content where he was. If he could, he would stay in this position forever.

* * *

"Naruto…" Sasuke's voice broke the silence several hours later in a barely audible muffle.

"Mm?"

Sasuke smiled slightly; he could feel Naruto's chest tense as he moaned quietly. He inhaled a deep breath and finally said, "Happy eighteenth birthday, Naruto." There—another shift in Naruto's position; Sasuke could feel the uneasiness without even looking at him.

"How… did you know it was my birthday?"

He said nothing at first, wondering what to say. The truth…that Iruka and Kakashi asked him to stall Naruto for a day while they set-up a birthday party bash. He couldn't tell him that! That would ruin the surprise, obviously.

"Well?" The rise in Naruto's chest awoke Sasuke from his thoughts more than the noise ever could.

"You're always depressed on your birthday, Naruto," he replied reluctantly. Again, Naruto twitched beneath him. Was he trying to get away, trying to hide from him? "…Naruto?"

"It's nothing," he sighed, and that was all Sasuke needed to hear. He hugged Naruto so tightly that the blond couldn't breathe.

"You don't have to say why… but tell me…"

"Mm?"

"Was today special?"

He said nothing, only smiled in return, kissing Sasuke's hair.


End file.
